ジェミニ Gemini
by beautiful-surreal
Summary: Akai and Koto are twin brother and sister. They're orphans used to a hard life, and to protect themselves, they've locked themselves into their own little world. But what happens when they meet the gang after a fateful encounter with the demon witch? R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** This is my first Inuyasha fic, which I wrote as something to distract me from my boredom in English class and to actually hone my skills in writing a little bit. I hope you like it. ;)

* * *

I must be dreaming. I had barely even tasted the liquid the witch had been tipping down my throat before my brother had attacked her- releasing me from the crone's freezing spell and allowing me to run away. I cowered against the trunk of the tree I was sitting in, watching my hands in fear. _I can't believe it!_ I screamed fearfully in my mind. _That witch is turning me into a Yokai! I'm human! I'm a normal, human woman! I can't **change!**__ I have a life!_ I shook in fear as I watched my fingernails as they quickly turned into claws, and I could feel the muscles in my hands growing stronger, creeping speedily past my wrists and shooting up my arms and past my neck, numbing my ears as my fear heightened steadily. I started to hyperventilate as I howled in pain and fear.

"**NOOOO!!!!!!"**

* * *

My blade froze barely an inch from the old hag's neck as my twin sister's scream of pain and fear reverberated through the forest, my blood running cold, my eyes wide with fear. _Akai…_ The hag tried to evade my sword, and fury erupted through every cell of my body like a burning flame as I pressed the blade to her neck, pinning her to the wall.

"What did you do to my sister!?" I snarled into the witch's face, but the hag only cackled evilly, regardless of the silver blade at her throat.

"The potion!" She cackled and she choked and wheezed as I pressed the blade harder into her neck, as she started to bleed from the small cut I had made. I glared into her eyes and she grinned toothlessly wide. "She's changing, she's changing!" she cackled gleefully, and I leaned into the blade, making her gasp painfully with wide eyes. "She's turning Yokai." She whispered, her eyes going blank as I leaned away- shocked by what she told me as she fell to the ground dead.

She turned my sister into a Yokai. A Yokai. A demon. My twin sister. I heard Akai howl again in the near distance, but quieter and in less pain. I felt tears pricking at my eyes as I fully realized the grim reality. Demons were ostracized from all feudal villages, ignored in some and hunted in others. In the wrong village my little sister would be killed thoughtlessly. She would be killed and I wouldn't be able to save her, breaking the vow we had made to each other to always protect each other no matter what happened.

The cursed potion bottle that caused this was sitting undisturbed on the floor by the witch's feet. I blinked, and in an instant I had taken a single stride towards it and had swept it up in one smooth movement into my hand. I held it for a split second, looking at it before I made an instant decision.

If I couldn't save her, then I would join her. My beloved sister. I threw my head back and let the liquid flow into my mouth before my eyes widened and I impulsively spat the foul-tasting liquid out, crushing the clay bottle in my tightening grip. I had never tasted anything so foul in my life, and I collapsed to all fours as the pain of the on-setting transformation took a firm hold of my body. I gasped as I tucked my head in between my arms, and I howled with the pain.

**"AKAI!"**

* * *

I lay panting against the side of the tree on the grass, having fallen out of its branches earlier. I was EXHAUSTED, and my entire body was shaking like I had run a mile, done twenty sit-ups, fifty push-ups and a 10-minute plank without resting. It was that kind of a feeling, and I put my hands shakily to my face, to check if everything was there. My face felt normal, but when I moved my hands to the side of my head, I felt nothing there, and I froze in surprise. I had thought that my ears had just gone numb, but they weren't even there anymore. So where- a twig snapped behind me, and I felt two somethings on top of my head rotate to face the sound to hear the scurrying of a raccoon. My eyes widened. _Oh…my…god…_ I thought apprehensively, and I slowly reached up to the top of my head where I had felt the movement. _There!_ My eyes widened. I had two fluffy little dog ears on top of my head. My mouth dropped open in surprise, and then one of them twitched. I gasped as I snapped my mouth shut, then- I couldn't help it-

"Awwwww!" I couldn't help but coo at the fuzzy little things. They were just too cute! I had to go and look in a river or a brook soon so that I could see my reflection, and I lowered my hands so that I could look at them as my new ears moved all on their own, picking up sounds I couldn't have heard before this change happened. My fingernails were now claws, and boy, were they sharp! I turned to the tree behind me and poked it. My claw sunk in as if it was as soft as soap. I pulled my finger down, and the wood split like a hot knife through butter. My eyes widened in awe as I pulled my claw out and looked it then back at the tree. _Wow._ I thought. _I didn't feel that at all._ I inhaled through my nose, and sharp scents filtered through. I swallowed. _I can smell everything… _the trees, the grass, the animals around me and everything else. It smelled so natural. I could smell water, and without thinking twice about it, I stood up before falling over again with a soft howl of surprised pain. _What?!_ I rolled over onto my back as I realized that the pain was coming from my feet. _My shoes! They're too small!_

I caught my foot and started to wrestle with it until my claws seemed to lose their patience and dug into the leather, ripping it to shreds. I blinked. _Well that's convenient._ I thought, and I went about slicing my other shoe off in a more orderly way.

**"AKAI!"** I was on my feet and scanning the woods in a second when I heard my brother's pained howl, and I learned that I now had super-fast reflexes. I squinted slightly in the direction I had heard my brother's voice come from, and I seemed to be able to see in between the trees to the witch's hut with my new eyes, and they narrowed in anger. If that old hag had done anything to my brother, she would pay for it dearly!

I was already running by this time, fueled by anger and anxiety, and I just barely noticed how fast I was going, weaving through the trees at an unimaginable speed like it was second nature. I felt like I was flying with no time to be elated, my feet barely even touching the ground, and I was at the hut in no time, fangs and claws bared, ready for a fight.

Except there was no one to fight, and I slowly realized I was growling as I slowly lowered my guard and took in my surroundings. The air stank with the sharp, coppery scent of blood and on-setting decay as my eyes found the dead body of the witch slumped against the wall, and then my brother curled up in pain in the center of the room, transforming like I did as a new scent hit my nose that I knew instinctively. My brother's pain, and it sent my adrenaline rushing with a spike of worry, sympathy, surprise and regret as I took a step to my brother's side and went to my knees beside him, laying a soft hand on his back. He was quivering from the pain as I looked at him sadly. _You'd condemn yourself for me? _I could smell the ghastly scent of the potion on his tongue, and I could see the shattered remains of its bottle by his hand. I sighed sadly.

"Koto…" He whimpered in pain as I watched his human ears vanish to be replaced by little black dog ears streaked with brown and white, like mud and snow on a sakura tree. I sighed as I watched his hair change color. My older twin brother, Koto- often did things of a similar nature to this for me. If I was wounded in a fight and had to fall back, he would protect me until I was safe, and then sit by my bedside after the battle until I was better. In return, I would do whatever I could for him when he needed me, for we had only had each other since we were children, when our mother had died of an illness. It was a promise I'd never regret making, since he was my everything. I sighed lightly and slid Koto's sword into his sheath before ducking my head under his arm and pulling him to his feet. I blinked in surprise. _He's much lighter than he was before._ I thought, and then shrugged it off before heading towards the door. _Must've been the transformation._ My goal at the moment was to get him out of that blasted hag's hut before he finished transforming and the smell got to him. It definitely wouldn't be daisies he'd be smelling when he woke up if I didn't get him out of there.

Bright sunlight hit my eyes when I left the hut, and it gave my new eyes a flash of pain as I closed them quickly to adjust to the new light source as I felt for the grass with my feet. I took in a deep breath of fresh air when I had gotten us far enough away from the stench of death and crouched to gently lay my brother on the grass on his back- and not a moment too soon. There was a thunderous crack and an earth-shaking rumble as I spun on the balls of my feet just in time to see a cloud of dust rise from the dead witch's hut as it leaned to the side and collapsed on top of her. It was a spectacular sight to see as I gradually leaned on my knees and then sank to my bottom next to my brother as I felt him press his side solidly to my back.

I watched the dust settle like the mist from a waterfall before turning to face my brother and start to rub his back like our mother used to do. I smiled and gently touched one of Koto's new ears, making it twitch. I couldn't help but grin, and I stroked it again. It was so soft, and beautiful. _I hope mine are just as pretty. Mother would've loved them._ We had never known our father. I had just assumed that he had died in some war I had never heard of. Mother never spoke about him. Maybe she hadn't loved him. It wasn't that unusual in arranged marriages. She did love us though. With every fiber of her being. I quirked a sad smile. We had been absolutely devoted to her, Koto and I, and we had been absolutely heartbroken when she wouldn't wake up one day, and we had worried the neighbors with our heart-broken wailing. So the neighbors had sadly explained to us what had happened, and buried her for us under her favorite tree and had taken care of us until we had grown enough to take care of ourselves.

We had become part of the village's fighters then, being strong enough to fight, and strong-willed enough not to shake with fear when faced with death. It was easy for us, because by then we had no one but each other to live for. I sighed. The village would never take us back the way we were now. We'd have to let them assume that we had died on our mission to kill the witch. _At least they'd remember us as heroes._ I knew we'd be able to find someplace new to live, if such a place existed.

Koto went rigid under my hand, and I focused on him in an instant. He was bristling like a cat faced with water, and his face was a mask of pain as he wasn't breathing. I blinked and smelled him. _His transformation is nearly over. It was the most painful at the end for me too._ I remembered, and I rubbed his back more quickly as the seconds ticked by. Then suddenly he gasped, and he went limp on my lap, breathing raggedly. I smiled and cradled his head and shoulders in my arms, lowering my face to his ear.

"Well done." I complimented him in a whisper, and he smiled exhaustedly. It was over. He was fully transformed and the pain had left him. He was like me now. I sighed lightly and stroked his hair, thinking of my own transformation- and I blinked before looking at Koto's feet. He was wearing shoes, and I knew that they must be too tight for him now. I smiled at him and made a comforting noise before lifting his shoulders and slipping out from under him before I laid him on the grass, crawling over to his feet.

I took his right foot and placed it on my lap before patiently setting to work on the knots in the leather straps that held the leather of his shoes to his ankles. I may have shredded mine in my desperate attempts to get them off my feet, but I doubted that Koto wanted his treated the same way. I just knew that they wouldn't fit his feet anymore, and slipping that shoe off, I set it on the grass next to me and went to work on the other one as Koto propped himself up on his elbows and watched me.

"Akai…" He whispered my name, and I looked up at him and was transfixed. His eyes were now the color of white gold, and he looked just as surprised as I was, looking into my eyes. I wondered what color mine had changed to, and we stared at each other for a few moments until he shakily broke the silence, his eyes wide with wonder. "Akai, you're-"

**"WAH!** Kagome, Inuyasha hit me!"

"Shaddup runt." A childish wail broke through what Koto was trying to say, followed quickly by a more masculine, deeper voice, and we both jerked our heads around to look in the direction of the steadily approaching voices. There a sound of something fleshy being kicked with a resulting wail of pain from the first voice, and I could track it's progress from the ground in an arch-like fashion into the air, and it was heading straight for me. Before I could blink, a young kitsune with ginger hair and a bushy tail flying towards my face, and he looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see him as he flew up over the hill, and I reached up on a reflex and caught him. I hadn't thought about the speed he was flying at until his momentum had me sprawled out on the ground with a gasp in surprise- his little body held safely between my two hands over me as if we were playing airplane..

"OSWARI!" A female voice yelled, and a solid-sounding thump followed half a second later as the little kid and I looked at each other with wide, surprised eyes, and the little guy's eyes lit up and he started to slowly grin as he heard the other voices down the hill. I blinked as the little guy controlled his grin and managed a little smile instead.

"You look like Inuyasha." My eyes widened at his cute little voice, and I smiled as my eyes softened. My heart had just melted. He was just too cute! I wanted to cry, he was so adorable! I had to let it out somehow.

"-and you're ADORABLE!" I squealed, and the little kitsune grinned as I heard my brother's amused laugh, my head full of cuteness.

* * *

I laughed at my sister's antics as she held the little fox kid over her, squealing away, and I sat up to finish taking off my shoe, which was rather uncomfortable once I paid attention to it. _I think my feet got bigger._ I smiled to myself. Akai was still the same person she had always been, even after our transformations- melting as soon as she saw something irresistibly cute.

I looked over the hill once my shoe was off to look at the kitsune's friends, and I blinked when I saw how many there were. There was a white-haired boy in red with dog ears like Akai had, spitting dirt out off his mouth and yelling at a girl in strange green and white clothes that was unbelievably revealing with a bow over her shoulder, and having just as much of a yell at the dog-eared boy as he was having at her. _What a strange couple…_ I blinked and looked behind them. There was a young-looking monk shaking his head and smiling, a young woman in a kimono frowning at the first two, and a little fire cat demon that was looking straight at me but without any threat in it's body language. Then there was a slap and I looked up to see the monk holding his face and smiling to himself as the woman in the kimono yelled at him. Apparently he had groped her. _What a strange group…_

"My name is Shippo, what's yours?" I heard the little fox demon ask in his squeaky little voice, and I turned around to see Akai sitting up and smiling at the little guy who was now standing in front of her. "-and thanks for catching me, by the way." I smiled at him as Akai glowed.

"I'm Akai, and this is my brother Koto." Akai introduced herself and motioned to me as she mentioned me, and Shippo looked at me, so I smiled at him and nodded. He did the same and I kept his attention.

"So who are your friends?" I asked, and Shippo turned to face me. His face lit up a little.

"Who, them?" he asked, pointing over the hill, and I nodded. He smiled a small smile. "They're like my family." He said and started to explain. "Kagome is the one in the strange clothing, and Inuyasha is the one in red, he's a half-demon. We found each other soon after my father was killed, and she took me in and cared for me. Miroku is the monk, and he's always groping Sango, who is the one with the huge boomerang. Kira is her fire demon." I blinked and thought back. The woman who had slapped the monk did have a huge boomerang on her back, so she must be Sango. I nodded absent-mindedly, rubbing my fingers with my thumb in an odd habit I had.

"You have one strange family…" I said absent-mindedly, and Akai nudged me, making me blink and come back to the present. She gave me a knowing smile, and I lifted the corner of my mouth in a half-smile for her. I looked back at Shippo in the eye. "I took a look over the hill, and they should be almost here." I said, and he nodded understandingly.

"Damn straight." I heard, and I turned to look at the half-demon I now knew as Inuyasha as he looked at me in surprise, the rest of his friends coming up behind him. He took a good look at me and his gaze turned suspicious when he took a good sniff and turned and did the same with Akai. He growled low in his throat, and I ignored him. Shippo looked nervously between Inuyasha, Akai and I before jumping up to Kagome's shoulder, where he settled in and grinned happily.

"Hey Kagome!" He said cheerfully, and Kagome turned her head as much as she could towards him without knocking him off her shoulder. "This is Akai-" He pointed his finger at my sister as he said her name, and I frowned, and he glanced at me before motioning towards me with his entire hand. "-and this is Koto. They're siblings!" He said joyfully, and I smiled at little at him.

"You are cute kid. How old are you?" I asked, and the little guy blinked before puffing up his chest proudly.

"I'm seven!" He said proudly before deflating curiously. "You?"

"Nineteen." I responded easily, and everyone's eyes except for Kagome's and Akai's widened in surprise. "So is Akai. We're twins." I mentioned off-handedly, and Shippo's mouth dropped open as he looked between me and my sister in surprise. His was gaping at us while his friends circled around us curiously, watching us, and I couldn't help but eye them warily. I slowly returned my gaze to Shippo as he blinked and slowly closed his mouth.

"Really?" He asked me innocently, and I tilted my head to the side, prompting him to elaborate. "Are you really only nineteen?" I nodded, and he frowned.

"In human or demon years?" I turned to look at Inuyasha as he spoke.

"What?" I turned to look at Akai, who had voiced the question, and was now kneeling next to me. I looked back at Inuyasha who was frowning at us curiously.

"Demons live longer than humans, so 19-year-old inu-hanyous like you two would only be puppies in our eyes…" He let his words trail off as he looked at me suspiciously and then at Akai before leaning slightly forward and taking a large sniff. His eyes narrowed, and his grip on his sword tightened, making me jump into a half-kneeling position and put an arm out to shield Akai behind my body. He just reeked of a threat at that moment, and I slowly rested my hand on my own sword- which the other half-demon seemingly ignored as his friends went for their own weapons without drawing them- except for Kagome who had just remained silent the entire time. Inuyasha leaned back and frowned curiously. "Something's fishy here though. You react like demons, but smell human."

I heard Akai shuffle through the grass on her knees to press against my back comfortingly, and I felt my gaze darken. Akai was feeling intimidated by this group of people surrounding us, and was coming to me for comfort. I could smell it coming off of her. I blinked, surprised, but masking it well. _I can smell it? I can smell her fear?_ I was glad that I could feel her there, but I was also worried for her. She could be quite delicate sometimes. I heard her sigh.

"We _were_ human…" she sighed and entire group's attention snapped to her like a released bowstring. I growled almost inaudibly in my throat, and Inuyasha's ear flicked in my direction. "-up until about an hour or so ago." She sighed again, and began our story of how we got to be like this. "I had been taken unawares from our camp only a few hours or so ago by the demon witch, and she had somehow managed to get a little of some sort of transformation potion down my throat before Koto attacked her, allowing me to escape- but…" she sighed, and I reached back slightly to comfort her. I was saddened, and disappointed with myself as well. _If only I had gotten there a little **sooner**__…_ "-he was already too late. I ran into the woods and had only just managed to get half-way to our camp before the pain hit." I could hear her swallow as I listened to her story carefully. I hadn't been there for this part. "When the pain stopped, my senses were sharper, and my body had changed to look like this. It seems like shortly after that, Koto had decided to join me…" she paused, and rested her chin on my shoulder. "-and part of me is glad that he did, for I don't know what I'd do without him." I smiled as she said the last part softly, and I reached up to gently ruffle her now somewhat gingery hair. I looked around the group now, and they had all relaxed by now, either looking at us sadly or sympathetically, although Kagome had a soft look in her eyes that said that her heart had just melted- the same kind of look Akai sometimes wore. I looked curiously up at her, and she smiled at me.

"Say," she spoke for the first time, and I felt something on top of my head rotate to face her as I heard her soft, sweet voice. I blinked. "Would you like to join us? We're looking for the shards of the Shikon Jewel while trying to find ways to defeat Naraku." Inuyasha started yelling at her, and she didn't miss a beat. "Sit." THUD. I blinked, and tilted my head slightly to the side as Akai used my shoulders to help her stand up before pulling me to my feet as well. _Shikon Jewel shards…?_

"Jewel shards?" Akai asked, and Kagome looked at her and nodded amicably. Akai 'hm'ed as she reached into her kimono and drew something out. I blinked. _Oh those…_ I thought as I saw the little velvet bag, remembering what was inside. Kagome stiffened in surprise, and Inuyasha stopped sulking as Akai held the little bag out to Kagome who took them in confusion. "Do you mean these?" She asked as she dropped her arm, putting her weight comfortably on one leg. Kagome looked at us with wide eyes before she opened the little bag and gasped. Inuyasha jumped to his feet and rushed to her side.

"What is it? He asked quickly, and the monk and Sango drew closer to them, Shippo having been standing on Kagome's shoulder all this time. Kagome stuttered in surprise.

"J-jewel shards. Twelve of them." The resulting stench of surprise made my eyes water.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** Here's the second chapter. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

It was night now, and we were all sitting at our camp around a camp fire, myself and Koto sitting closer together than we usually did because of the unexpected company. Inuyasha stood behind Kagome who was sitting on a log on the other side of the fire from us, with his arms stuffed in his sleeves and looking lofty. Shippo was sitting beside Kagome on the log, his little fox feet sticking out in front of him as he watched the fire, the shards that I had given Kagome now fused into a larger, glittering chunk of the original thing. Apparently they were only missing a few shards now. The monk, Miroku sat on the right side of the fire, gazing somewhat longingly through the flames at the demon slayer who was looking quietly at my brother and I along with Inuyasha, her little cat demon, Kiara curled up on her lap, seemingly napping.

It was pretty quiet out. Crickets were chirping, the fire was crackling, a few nocturnal animals were out and about, night-time frogs were croaking, a breeze was sighing through the trees- and that one was Miroku sighing, not the wind. I couldn't help but smile to smile to myself. That guy was hopeless. It just tickled me how cute he made it look.

Koto and I had explained how we had come by the jewel shards that we had had, as we walked back to our camp so that those who were slower could keep up. The first three had come from three centipede demons that had attacked our town, and had ended up being actually quite fun to fight. They all had the shards in their foreheads. The forth came from an over-sized rat which Koto had sat on while I had poked it for any hard spots where the shard could've been, and once I had removed it, it had shrunk considerably, so Koto had thrown it by the tail back into the forest. The 5th and 6th shards had both come from a freakish snake that had gained the power of speech and had come onto me while I was bathing, making me screech in surprise and I had chopped it in half and trapped it under a rock in the hot spring until it had drowned and boiled alive. Well, snakes are cold-blooded, and that had been the first thing I had thought of. I had seen the shards bulging out of its forehead and throat when it swelled. The 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th shards had come from a bear with lightening speed, and Koto had chopped off it's legs when I noticed the bulges on it's ankles, and I had removed them before the bear could heal itself. The village ate well that night. The 11th had simply fallen out of some merchant's wagon, and I had thought to keep it, since the merchant himself hadn't seemed to notice. The 12th had come from the witch who had turned us. I had nabbed it from around her neck before running off while Koto distracted her.

I blinked when I felt my brother lightly touch the back of my hand, and I realized that I had been staring at a patch of dirt in front of the fire blankly for a little while now. I smiled slightly to myself, and I turned to face Koto, who copied me. He smiled at me, and his eyes danced with the firelight. _Time for play._ I raised my right hand at the same time Koto raised his left, and we practiced syncing our motions for a little while, and then I just had to touch his ears again. He grinned and did the same as I started to stroke his soft little, snow-brown ears, as Koto did the same to mine. I blissed out, and just went limp against my brother's chest. Luckily, we were close enough that I could that. My ears were slightly smaller than Koto's, and my hair had changed to a color similar to Shippo's but lighter, with faint traces of white and brown through it. Like snow on a scorched hay field. Koto wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and stretched his leg out while shifting my weight onto his chest, sweeping my legs out from under me so I was lying on my belly with my chest and arms across his legs when he slid me down his chest to rest there, where he proceeded to rub both my ears at the same time. My eyes rolled up and I stretched my arms out as if to reach for something, and I rolled an 'r' to a low, pleasurable rumble deep in my chest, and in the side of my mind, I heard Miroku chuckle while Sango and Kagome giggled.

Then, almost inaudibly, I almost sensed rather than heard an incredible force come down on a twig, crushing it underfoot. I froze, my eyes wide with my arms outstretched, and Koto had stiffened too. As soon as I noticed, I pushed myself back onto my ankles, and looked to my left outside of camp as Koto pushed himself to a knee and a foot, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword as he turned to search the section of woods that I was searching. I could smell Inuyasha's alertness, and I could tell without looking that he had fallen into a defensive stance and was scanning the woods as well. The humans among us had only noticed our reactions, but nothing else, and were watching us carefully. I got to my feet, fixating on the spot where I could now hear the heavy foot beats approaching from, and I made myself relax.

"Something's coming." I said and Shippo jumped onto Kagome's shoulder and hid behind her hair while Sango grabbed her boomerang and Miroku gripped his staff more firmly. "-and it's big." I said a familiar rush filling me as I heard the foot falls increase in tempo, having obviously either scented us, or seen the smoke from our fire. I grinned and looked sideways at Koto who was standing at the ready. I smirked. "Shall we?" I practically, and my twin's barely repressed grin broke, spreading across his face in the good old familiar way. He nodded, and we leaned into a run, Inuyasha hot on our tails. I snorted. _Tails. Ironic._ I thought and smiled before I frowned. The thing stank, and my gaze sharpened, looking in between the trees. It was big and round, a green animal standing on four trunk-like legs with a horn coming out of it's nose, and several more protruding from the rolling skin on it's back. It smelled like it had a few jewel shards in it, and I growled before launching myself at it, sliding under it's belly and reaching up with my claws and ripping it open, and rolling onto my belly at the last moment, I snagged it's hamstrings as I slid past, narrowly missing it's butt as it sat down heavily and breathed fire my way. My eyes popped wide and I scrambled out of there, missing it by a few singed hairs. I had never encountered a fire-breather before, and admittedly, it shook me up. I got into the clear just in time to see Koto's sword break in the demon's jaws. I winced at the resulting sound and yelled.

"Use your claws Koto! They're sharp!" I yelped as the demon's green horns flew at me, and managed to dodge all of the fast-flying missiles but one, and I screamed as it thudded through my thigh and pinned me to a tree.

"AKAI!" I head my Koto shout, and my eyes watered at the pain in my leg, my vision went blurring as the wound went numb and my responses started to slow. I leaned my back against the bamboo I was pinned to as I blinked, feeling heat traveling towards me, my hearing fading out. _Poison._ I thought numbly, and I felt a dull force slamming into my side and carrying me off. I fought for consciousness as I peered through my blurring vision at the one carrying me and managed to see red, white, gold and dog ears. I inhaled through my nose and his scent hit me, making me blink. _Inuyasha…_ I thought sluggishly as my vision swirled into darkness and nothingness. _Why would he…?_

* * *

Inuyasha had her. I had watched in fear as she was slammed into the bamboo and was going to be torched by the demon's fire, but I saw what should've been a blur as Inuyasha yanked her off of the bamboo and carried her to his friends who were approaching the battle as fast as they could at their human pace. I watched as they slowed to a halt as Inuyasha approached them with my dear little sister Akai lying limp in his arms as he lowered her to the ground. I slowly became aware that I was shaking, though out of fear or anger I wasn't sure, and I watched as Kagome kneeled by her side, and it seemed as though Inuyasha was moving as slowly as he could out of the way of my view of my sister. Then I saw Akai completely, and I went numb as the information ran through my head.

Akai. Wound. Deep. Bleeding. Pale. Losing blood. She could be dead. My vision flashed red and I felt fury rush through my veins as I bared my fangs and focused on the demon who did this to my little sister. I became aware of my growling, and roared.

* * *

All I felt was fury. All I knew was bloodlust and desire to kill. My only focus was revenge. It didn't matter how I killed it, it just mattered that I did. I felt heat radiating from my skin, my fur like an inferno, like the inside of a volcano. I felt my tail hitting trees and I felt my claws and fangs ripping into green hide, tearing and ripping even after the flesh had grown cold and still, and the thought that I had killed it didn't reach my mind until I hit bone, and that was when everything froze and some sanity returned.

I had killed it. I had gotten my revenge, and as I felt myself calming down, I felt myself growing smaller and the fur vanishing with the anger, the tail disappearing completely, and I found myself standing in a clearing steaming with freshly spilled blood and scattered with the remains of a huge carcass. I looked up from where I had been looking at the ground into the sky which was growing lighter with the dawn, and I felt an odd sort of peace settle within me. I had just met my demon, and while part of me was unhappy with it, a part of me accepted it as an unavoidable part of who I now was.

I turned to look for my family/friends/group/pack and finding them all huddled up in a tree watching me, I smiled with relief and collapsed on the spot, exhaustion taking it's toll when I saw my dear little sister awake and sitting up on her own in the tree, watching me worriedly.

* * *

Apparently demons and half-demons healed faster than humans did. That was an unexpected bonus, as if I had been a human when that poisonous horn had pierced though my leg, I would've died within seconds. As I was, I healed within an hour at least, when I was awoken by the sound of a thunderous growl and by the sound of flesh ripping and thudding to the ground a meter or so away from where I was lying, blood splashing every where.

My eyes widened as I took in the situation. A fight going on in a battle-made clearing not far to my left, Kagome kneeling on my right and staring shocked into the clearing along with Inuyasha who was gaping in surprise into the clearing by my feet, Sango and Miroku standing by my head and looking very grim, and I knew I had to do something as I jumped to my feet only to have my head swim. I groaned a little and held my head as I swayed.

"Easy wench. You've only just healed. Get your bearings first." Inuyasha actually sounded concerned as I felt his clawed hand steadying me on my shoulder. I closed my eyes and shook my head, looking up into his gold eyes, so similar to my brother's.

"We need to get everyone out of the danger area." I said, looking Inuyasha in the eye.

"Everyone here can fight." He said and blinked. "Everyone except Kagome." He corrected.

"Hey!" Kagome protested, and I turned to and looked at her seriously. She silenced herself instantly and looked at me with big eyes.

"Now is not the time for complaining. We need to either help or get out of the way." I said seriously, and I turned to looked at the large, dark dog with white and brown splashed through it's fur and furious red eyes as it fought the demon that had injured me, somehow knowing it was my brother. My eyes narrowed. "Given the state he's in, the latter is better option. Get on my back." I said, crouching and turning so that Kagome was facing my back, and she put her arms around my neck without a question as I reached for her legs. I blinked as I stood up. If it weren't for the presence of her arms folded under my chin, I wouldn't even know she was there. I looked over at Inuyasha. "I can carry Sango as well if you carry Miroku."

He looked troubled.

"Where are we going?" I looked up, and looked around and spotted an old oak, with a crèche in it's branches pretty far up and I jerked my chin towards it.

"There." Inuyasha followed where I was looking and I kneeled down again after motioning for Sango to climb on my back, which she complied with easily. Standing up, the two of them together felt like a very light single person on my back. A weight I was more familiar with. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Inuyasha and Miroku grimace at each other before I leapt straight up into the trees. In a testimony to how used the two girls were to riding like this, neither of them shrieked in surprise as I instinctively leapt from tree to tree, though I heard Miroku yelp from behind me, and I turned my head mid-jump to see that Inuyasha had tossed him over his shoulder. I couldn't help but smirk at that as I landed on the tree branch I was aiming for and let the girls climb off my back, my attention only on my brother.

A part of me wondered if I had a form like that, and another thought that my brother had more demon in him than I did. Another part of me worried for him. He was getting gouged left, right and center, but he continued fighting like he couldn't feel them, avoiding only the most fatal of blows until the demon was lying still, and even then he kept ripping.

"Koto…" I murmured. The bloodlust in the eyes of my brother's body told me that he had temporarily lost his mind, and I watched him sadly as he tossed chunks of flesh streaming blood around the clearing, tree stumps visible where his tail had knocked them over. "Koto…" I whispered, blood staining his fur, both the demon's and his own. "That's enough…" I murmured, and he hit bone and froze. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a bird chirped and he backed off, releasing the bone he had in his mouth and looking at the ground as he grew smaller, and to the size I knew him as.

His fur melted away, his tail vanished, but the wounds didn't disappear. There were open wounds crossed over his arms and chest, and when he looked up to the sky, I saw two marks on his face that hadn't been there before. A blue half-moon and a red streak across his cheek, and deep in my gut, I knew what they were. Demon marks. I could see him searching for me, and I straightened up where I had been lying against the branch, and he found me with his eyes. I looked at him worriedly, and he smiled in relief before his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto the ground. Fear made my blood run cold.

"**KOTO!!!!**"


End file.
